Wild Risks

A podcast episode about why environmental crime matters to finance

15 July 2025

Environmental crime is a growing global threat becoming increasingly relevant to the financial services industry.

From illegal wildlife trade to waste trafficking, these crimes pose serious risks for investors, institutions and regulators alike.

In this episode of Jersey Heard, Tom McKenna, the host and our sustainable finance lead, speaks with Olivia Dakeyne, an expert on environmental crime and principal researcher at Themis. They unpack what environmental crime really is, why it matters to Jersey and how it fits into our evolving financial landscape.

Following a strong public consultation response in spring 2024, the Government of Jersey launched its sustainable finance action plan in November last year; a 10-point plan with five actions that will protect our finance industry and five to promote our successful adoption of approaches to sustainable finance. Environmental crime is one of the priorities under this plan.

Whether you work in compliance, audit, administration or strategic planning, this episode offers essential insights into one of the finance world’s most overlooked risks.

It could pay for 1.4 million affordable homes. Or you could give primary education to every child on earth for several years.
Olivia DakeynePrincipal, Research at Themis
Tom McKenna
Tom McKennaSustainable Finance Lead, Jersey Finance
Tom joined Jersey Finance as the Sustainable Finance Lead in April 2023.

Born and educated in Jersey, Tom studied at the University of Chester where he graduated with a BA Hons and MSc.

Tom has over 17 years’ experience in Jersey’s finance industry, having worked as an Associate Director at Zedra before joining Jersey Finance and, prior to that, at EFG. In his role at Zedra, he drove the creation of, and was Chairperson of, their Global Green Team.
Olivia Dakeyne
Olivia DakeynePrincipal, Research at Themis
Olivia is the Research Principal at Themis, an anti-financial crime provider, where she leads financial and environmental crime research projects for the private and public sector, including for a number of governments across the world. She specialises in projects involving environmental crime and human trafficking, especially through the lens of serious organised transnational crime and convergence with other financial crimes. She has 13 years’ varied experience across the public and private sectors in a full-time and freelance capacity, including in research, finance, sustainability, policy and strategy for organisations like the Natural History Museum, Kew Gardens and Client Earth.

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